Prairie Rivers Network’s Strategic Plan guides us in protecting the rivers and streams of Illinois for people, fish, and wildlife through the following three interrelated program areas:
Clean Water Program
The overall goal of the Clean Water Program is to improve the quality of water that flows in Illinois’ rivers and streams. This is accomplished through the following four project areas:
1. Clean Water Act Enforcement and Implementation – protects the public interest by advocating for the effective and full implementation of the Clean Water Act, restoring Illinois’ polluted waters and keeping clean waters clean. The project uses provisions of the federal Clean Water Act to:
- compel the state to apply its new, forward-looking anti-degradation policy to all discharges into high-quality waters;
- strengthen individual pollution permits and overall policies and water quality standards;
- seek better land management and stormwater controls in urban and suburban areas; and
- improve implementation of the watershed restoration program.
2. Water Quality Standards Improvement – pushes the Illinois EPA and the Pollution Control Board for more protective regulatory standards. Deficiencies in current regulations are often identified in the course of our pollution permit reviews. Vigorous promotion of regulatory-reform during the permit review process both complements and strengthens our efforts to improve water quality standards.
3. All Rivers Lead to the Sea – promotes the development and implementation of new state and local policies that reduce Illinois’ contribution to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, which begins by improving the health of rivers within Illinois. The huge Gulf dead zone is caused chiefly by nutrients discharged into Illinois rivers and ultimately the Mississippi by unregulated sources, in particular polluted runoff (non-point source pollution) that comes from farms and cities. The All Rivers Lead to the Sea project has established, and will continue to create partnerships to promote and achieve implementation of new policies to curb nutrient pollution.
4. Agricultural Programs Reform – Agriculture is, far and away, the leading source of water pollution in Illinois today, and its pollutant discharges are almost entirely unregulated. This project seeks improvements in the administration of state and federal agricultural programs to ensure that they consider the effects of agricultural production on water quality, aquatic life, and stream flows. Our efforts include participating in meetings of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and its state Technical Advisory Committee, where we seek to influence programmatic decisions that might improve or diminish water-quality. We also work to promote watershed restoration plans that address agricultural impacts.
Healthy Stream Flow and Habitat Protection Program
This program’s objective is to ensure protection of water flows that will maintain ecologically healthy river systems. It promotes habitat protections that reduce flooding, protect wildlife, enhance recreational opportunities, protect drinking water supplies, and sustain the ecological processes that are the underpinnings of entire landscapes. We plan over the next few years to achieve this goal through the following project areas:
1. Water Supply Protection- seeks to develop and secure implementation of new, enforceable policies that regulate surface and ground water withdrawals and balance the needs of instream flows with out-of-stream uses. Without effective water supply policies, increased diversions of water, from both ground and surface waters, could have significant impacts on the people, fish, and wildlife of Illinois.
To accomplish this ambitious, vital goal, we will build an alliance with entities interested in maintaining adequate public water supplies and with other partners interested in securing reliable water flows for fish, wildlife, and recreation.
2. Drainage Reform- seeks to protect water quality and streamside habitat from being damaged by unnecessary drainage activities. Historically, the natural course of Illinois rivers has been seriously altered because of drainage practices and changing land-use patterns throughout the state, particularly in urban areas and in agricultural regions dominated by intensive cropping. This project will promote policies and practices that provide adequate drainage while reducing unnecessary dredging and channelization that cause harmful fluctuations in water flows and destroy fish and wildlife habitat. This project will also involve educating the public on the ecological connections between a stream and its floodplain and on the ways that natural biological processes can help provide adequate drainage while also benefiting the environment.
3. Wetlands Protection – seeks to protect critical habitat for fish, wildlife, and birds, from illegal straightening and filling of streams and wetlands by pressing for strict enforcement of the Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting processes that govern these activities.
River Stewardship and Awareness Program
The goals of our River Stewardship and Awareness Program are to:
- actively link Illinois residents to the rivers around them, help them become more aware of river health, and inspire them to be engaged river activists; and
- help the state’s environmental agencies secure the funding they need to meet their responsibilities to the public and its water resources.
The program goals are divided among the following four project areas:
1. Watershed Network – expands the network of watershed groups around the state that can act as the eyes and ears of Illinois’ rivers and streams, and provide us with local support and information for a given watershed that would not otherwise be readily available. When citizens become aware of water quality problems, they are often led to explore the causes of the problems and to seek improvements in the ways in which we use our rivers and our lands. We accomplish this by giving watershed groups the technical assistance they need to become more effective watershed protectors, which allows them to gain increased political influence, both with agencies and with legislators.
2. Grassroots River Stewards – establishes and supports a grass roots movement of individuals by providing opportunities for involvement in river conservation work independent of local watershed groups so citizens of all interests can get involved.
3. River Awareness Campaign – increases the awareness of both the general public and their decision makers about river conservation in Illinois. Raising awareness generally is the first step toward building watershed organizations, recruiting new membership, and inspiring people to become leaders in river conservation. This project elevates public and decision maker awareness of river issues through direct actions, media, and other forms of outreach.
4. State Stewardship Enhancement – educates and informs, directly and by way of local watershed groups and individual citizens, budgetary decision makers in state government of the need to provide more appropriate funding for the Illinois EPA, the Department of Natural Resources, the University of Illinois’ scientific survey offices, and other elements of state government responsible for the ecologically sound stewardship of the state’s natural resources and heritage.
For more details, download Prairie Rivers Network’s 2005-2010 Complete Strategic Plan (PDF document)